“Whether it’s violating arms control treaties, breaching peace agreements, or cheating in sports competitions, Russia’s leadership must start facing the consequences of its systematic abuse of international norms,” said Michael Carpenter, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.

“Such behavior cannot be tolerated in any arena, and this decision sends a clear message in that regard,” he added.

On August 2, President Donald Trump signed the Russia sanctions bill that passed the House and Senate with veto-proof majorities. Trump had little choice; had he rejected the bill, it would have become law anyway.

Despite concerns that House Republicans would water down the bill after it initially sailed through the Senate on June 15, the final bill emerged with its teeth intact.

Will Russia’s reaction to US sanctions be short-lived?

[Editor's note: US President Donald J. Trump signed the new sanctions bill on August 2.]

The Kremlin’s reaction to the new US sanctions indicates that Russian President Vladimir Putin is in a “lashing-out mood,” that, while unsettling, will be short-lived, according to Daniel Fried, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative.

“I would not take this terribly seriously,” said Fried of the Kremlin’s mandate on July 30 that the United States must cut 755 members of its diplomatic staff in Russia. “These kinds of diplomat wars seem important at the time,” he added, yet, when comparing the current situation to a similar diplomatic fallout between the United States and...
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